My eyes went wide as I swung around. “Cas.”
“What?” he countered, letting go of Emil’s wrist as the distinctive huffing sound of a wolven’s laugh followed. There wasn’t even a hint of remorse on his features. “He had it coming.”
“Oh, my gods.” I smacked him hard on the chest. When I saw that damn dimple start to appear, I stepped toward him.
Casteel caught my hand, his eyes flaring to a heated gold. “It’s inappropriate to engage in foreplay with an audience, my Queen.”
“Oh, my gods,” I hissed again, pulling my hand free as I faced Delano. “And you’re not helping.”
His ears flattened.
“At least I didn’t rip his arms off,” Casteel said as if that were some sort of defense.
Ignoring that, I glared up at Kieran. “And you!”
His head drew back. “Me? I’m just standing here.”
“Exactly. You just stood there.”
Kieran raised a brow as Emil shook out his hand as if that would help the pain. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Stop him?”
“Not my ship to steer,” he replied, sounding bored.
I swallowed what surely would’ve been a shriek as I turned to Emil and started to apologize. The words died on my lips.
Emil wasgrinning.
“Are you smiling?”
“Kind of,” he replied, his golden eyes twinkling with amusement as he straightened his two broken fingers.
I blinked slowly. “You are all so dysfunctional.”
“Well, you know you can’t spell—”
I spun on Casteel. “Do not finish that sentence.”
He inclined his head, the corners of his lips twitching. “Yes, my Queen.”
Muttering a curse, I exhaled long and slow. “What’s going on?” I asked. “You were uneasy when you entered, and I doubt it was because you suspected Casteel was going to act like a child and break your fingers.”
“A child?” repeated Casteel.
“Yes, a child who got upset because someone else was playing with their favorite toy.”
Emil opened his mouth, then pressed his lips together as if fighting a grin.
“Ifhe,” Casteel said, facing me as he pointed at Emil, “was playing with my favorite”—his gaze dropped to below my waist, then lifted—“toy, it would’ve been his neck I broke.”
My face heated. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I sure hope not,” Casteel replied.
Crossing my arms to keep myself from doing something regretful, I decided it was far past the time to stop engaging with him. I focused on Emil. “You felt uneasy when you arrived. Did something happen?”
All humor fled from his features. “Naill informed me there appears to have been another…incident. This time in Stonehill,” Emil said, speaking of the district overlooking the Stroud Sea. “I’m not sure what happened, only that there are multiple deaths.”
